I’ve always appreciated station wagons, or tourers, as this 1992 BMW 316i is designated. That’s probably because, like many of my generation, I spent so much time, in my youth, trundling around in one. I even learned how to drive on a 1969 Chevrolet station wagon. Today’s discovery, courtesy of Curvette, is a vastly different animal from that old Kingswood wagon (though I did dust a BMW 2002 in a stoplight competition with it), as it embodies an excellent balance of performance, looks, and functionality. And, it hails from Poland! Portland, Oregon, is this Bimmer’s current home, and it’s available here on craigslist for $17,500.

Known as an “E30” in BMW-speak, this tourer is a European-spec model imported from Poland, and it comes with a clean Oregon title.  The E30 series was a successful one for BMW, spanning the years ’82 to ’94 ( ’84 to ’91 in the U.S.) and was offered in two-door sedan and convertible body styles as well as four-door sedans (saloons) and tourers such as our subject car. Total E30 production reached approximately 2.4M units, with 385K of that total wearing a 316i badge. The second I spied this car’s images, the rear one, in particular, I knew I had not encountered the touring version of this model – it is a completely foreign look to me (though I really like it!). The seller considers the condition of this car to be excellent, and I’d have to agree. Despite its 34 years on this earth and 89K miles of experience, it still shows like new. Of note is the black rubber bumper trim, which is always one of the first things to fail on a car from this era, but that’s hardly the case here. The silver finish, wheels, and trim are just perfect, while the underside image yields no structural concerns.

Power is provided by a 99 HP, 1.6-liter, four-cylinder engine, making the rear-wheel drive connection via a five-speed manual transmission. The seller does not comment on this tourer’s running or driving characteristics but does mention that the timing belt was replaced in 2023. A power rating of 99 HP may not seem particularly inspiring, but the curb weight of this car is only 2,600 lbs. – It’s nice to find a functional design that’s not as brobdingnagian as the massive SUVs littering our roadways today.

I would suggest that the interior is as nice as the exterior. Besides its very clean condition, it bears that no-nonsense, Teutonic design that was inherent in most German cars of this era – it’s truly all business. There isn’t a detailed image of the wayback, but from what can be viewed, it appears to be sound and damage-free.

IMHO, everything about this car is just right, including its condition, layout, design, and manual gearbox, if that feature is important to you (I know I prefer it). It’s unfortunate that today’s auto manufacturers, BMW included, can’t provide an earnest, right-sized, non-overwrought model like this 316i. I really dig it, how about you?